OIG Hotline:

Report Fraud, Waste and Abuse

866-770-7175

Health Information Privacy Office

In fulfilling its mission, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) understands and respects the privacy of the healthcare information we receive, use and disclose in all areas of the department. We know that your confidence in our care of your health information is critical to you and essential for us to do our work.

There are already very strict state laws that protect your healthcare information. As well, there are some very strict federal laws that specifically protect healthcare information used in research, in substance abuse, and in mental health.  Now, a federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), adds a few new requirements for protecting healthcare information that we use in some of our programs.

The DHMH HIPAA website includes information about the impact of HIPAA on our work inside DHMH and with our partners and colleagues.  Some resources are included on the website that are specific to HIPAA compliance in all the covered areas: Privacy, Security, Identifiers, Enforcement, Transactions and Code Sets.

The DHMH efforts for reaching HIPAA compliance in all of the covered areas have been tremendous.  The establishment of the Privacy Office separate from the activities that were required for compliance by April 14, 2003 is needed to meet the ongoing administrative and operational requirements for HIPAA Privacy compliance.  You can locate some privacy resources including the Notice of Privacy Practices, information about the DHMH Privacy Complaint Process, and links to DHMH Privacy Policies on both websites.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Privacy Office assures that the department complies with HIPAA and departmental privacy policies and protections in its covered healthcare components.  The DHMH Privacy Office has no authority to enforce HIPAA or State Privacy laws compliance in other State agencies, in Private Providers offices, or in Private hospitals.

Information on how to file a complaint is included on the "Privacy Complaint Process" page.

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Office of the Inspector General

201 W. Preston Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21201

410 767-5784 OFFICE

410 333-7194 FAX

Report fraud, waste and abuse

866-770-7175